Picker-stick motion for looms.



PATE'NTED DEC. 6, 1904. 0. H. DRAPER. PICKER STICK MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8 1904.

no MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented December 6, 190&

PATENT OEEIcE.

CLARE H. DRAPER, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY,OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPO- RATION OF MAINE.

PlCKEFl-STICK MOTION FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,584, dated December6, 1904.

Application filed August 8, 1904.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLARE H. DRAPER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of I-Iopedale, county of IVorcester, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Picker-Stick Motions for Looms, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing likeparts. I

This invention has for its object the production of a novel picker-stickmotion for looms, whereby the picker is caused to move in a pathsubstantially parallel to the raceway of the lay, such mechanismfrequently being termed the parallel motion. Such mechanism comprehends,broadly speaking, astand or support mounted rigidly on the layrockershaft and a shoe secured to the lower end of the picker-stick andhavingasegmental bearing face or sole to rock upon the support as thepicker-stick is oscillated, the shape of the sole being such that therising-and-falling movement of the picker is compensated for to causethe picker to travel substantially in a straight path. In my presentinventionI have made the bearing-face of the shoe curved to rock on aseat which is also curved, but of a different radius, one being concaveand the other convex, giving a rolling contact. A species ofrack-and-gear device is provided to prevent slip or relative movement,longitudinal or lateral, of the shoe and its support, and I have alsoprovided a positively-acting downhold to maintain the shoe incooperation with its support.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described inthe subjoined speci fication, and particularly pointed out in thefollowing claims.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the righthand side of a loom with oneembodiment of my present invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is aright-hand end elevation of the parallel motion shown in Fig. 1.

The loom side A, lay A the picker-stick P,

Serial No. 219,826. (No model.)

provided with a picker F and movable in the usual slot in the lay, thelug-strap L, connecting the stick with the pick-motion, (partly shown atP Fig. 1,) may be and are all of wellknown or usual construction andoperate in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art.

In the present embodiment of my invention the shoe comprises a curved orsegmental portion 1, havingau upright extension 2, to which the lowerend of the picker-stick is attached by a bolt 3, the extension beingrecessed to receive the stick, the usual adjusting-screw 4: being alsoshown in Fig. 1. The convex under side or sole of the shoe 1 is providedwith a central series of teeth, forming a segmental gear 5, and at eachside thereof I have formed a convex bearing-face 6, said bearingfacesbeing parallel and circular arcs struck from the same center. Saidbearing-faces are in the pitch-line of the teeth,forming the gear 5 inthe present embodiment of my invention. The support or stand on whichthe shoe rocks is made as a curved member 7 having a hub 8, which isrigidly secured to the projecting endof the lay rocker-shaft A", Fig. 1,by a suitable set-screw 9. The upper side of the support is concave, andit has a central-series of teeth forming a rack 10 to cooperate with thesegmental gear 5 of the shoe, as will be clear from Fig. l, and preventslip or relative longitudinal movement of the shoe and support.

At each side of the rack 8 a concave seat 11 is formed on the support,the seats being circular arcs struck from the same center, but ofgreater radius than the bearing-faces 6 of the shoe, as will be manifestfrom an inspection of Fig. 1. Said seats are in the pitch-line of theteeth, forming the rack 10. The faces 6 rest upon and roll on the seats11 as the picker-stick is oscillated, and by reference to Fig. 1 it willbe seen that when the stick swings inward from the extreme outwardposition shown the shoe and stick will descend until the stick is insubstantially vertical position, thereby coinpensating for andneutralizing the normal rising tendency of the picker. After passing thevertical position the stick and shoe rise as the stick completes itsinward stroke,neutralizing the normal falling tendency of the picker, sothat the latter is moved in a path substantially parallel to the racewayof the lay. This alternate descent and ascent of the shoe is due to thedifierence in the radii of curvature of the bearing-facesoand theirseats 11, andas the shoe rolls upon the support the intermeshing of therack and gear 10 5 prevents any slip of the shoe, thus forming apositive traveling connection between them. Inasmuch as the teeth of therack and gear, respectively, project between the bearing-faces and thecurved seats, it will be manifest that the shoe and its support cannotmove laterally.

Ordinarily a spring is employed to maintain the shoe in engagement withthe support and to prevent lifting of the shoe and picker-stick in itsnormal operation; but herein I have provided positively-acting means toeffect this object. The extension 2 of the shoe has an offset 12, Fig.2, bifurcated to present two upturned ears 13, between which a follower,shown as aroll14, is mounted and preferably rotatable on a pin 15,supported in the ears. A rigid upwardly-extended and outwardlyinclinedarm 16 is secured to or forms a part of the hub 8 of the support 7, saidarm at its upper end having a cam-surface 17 formed thereon to overhangand cooperate with the roll 14. This cam-surface is downcurved or convexwith relation to the roll and is a circular are substantially concentricwith the seats 11 of the support. As the shoe rocks the roll 14 travelsalong in contact with and beneath the cam-surface 17 the roll descendingand rising with the shoe as said roll follows the surface of the cam,preventing any lifting of the shoe and maintaining it in rolling contactwith the support. Vhen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1,the pickerstick and shoe cannot rise, as the rack and gear prevent anyoutward movement of the shoe, while the downhold prevents any liftingwhich would tend to disengage the rack and gear. On its inward strokethe roll 14 will enter and be stopped by the concave portion 18 of thearm 16 at the inner end of the cam-surface 17.

The structure is strong and durable, easy to construct and assemble, theuse of springs is obviated, and a wholly-positive and direct-actingmechanism is secured.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction andarrangement shown and described, for. the same may be modified invarious details by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the class described, a

picker-stick and an attached shoe having a curved bearing face, asupport having a curved seat upon which said shoe rocks and of adifferent curvature, means to prevent relative longitudinal movement ofthe shoe and its support and a positively-acting downhold to maintainsaid parts in rolling contact.

2. In a device of the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a convex, circularly-curved bearing-face, asupport having aconcave and circularly-curved seat of greater radius and upon which thebearing-face of the shoe rocks, means to prevent longitudinal slip ofthe shoe on its support, and a downhold for and to prevent lifting ofthe shoe from the support.

3. In a device of the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a circularly-curved bearing-face, a support having a curvedseat upon which said shoe rocks and of a different radius, arack-and-gear connection between said parts to prevent relativelongitudinal movement thereof, and means to maintain said shoe andsupport in rolling contact.

4. In a device of the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a convex, circularly-curved bearing-face, a support having aconcave and circularly-curved seat of greater radius and upon which thebearing-face of the shoe rocks, a rack on one of said members and acooperating segmental gear on the other, to prevent longitudinal slip'ofthe shoe on the support, and a positively-acting downhold for and topreventlifting of the shoe from the support.

5. In a device of the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a central segmental gear on its sole, and parallel convexbearing-faces in the pitch-line of the gear-teeth, a support having acentral rack to cooperate with the segmental gear and provided withconcave, parallel seats in the pitch-line of the rack, and of greaterradius than the bearing-faces of the shoe, said bearing-faces rolling onthe seats, and means to prevent lifting of the shoe from said supportand maintain it in rolling engagement therewith.

6. In a device of' the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a circularly-curved bearing-face, a support having a curvedseat upon which said shoe rocks and of a different radius, arack-and-gear connection between said parts to prevent relativelongitudinal movement thereof, and a downhold for the shoe, comprising aroll carried thereby and a cam-surface carried by the support and withwhich the roll cooperates.

7. In a device of the class described, a picker-stick and an attachedshoe having a circularly-curved bearing-face, a support having a curvedseat upon which said shoe rocks and of a different radius, arack-and-gear connection between said parts to prevent relative lon- Intestimony-whereof I have signed my name gituclinal movement thereof, anda clownhold to this specification in the presence of two sub- IQ forthel shoe, comprising a roll carri'ad therescribing witnesses. by anc aconvex cam-surface Carrie by the T 3 1 5 support and substantiallyconcentric with the CLARE DRAI curved seat thereof, the roll travelingupon W'itnesses: said cam-surface as the picker-stick is oscil- W ILLAE. CHARLo'r, latecl. GEORGE OTIS DRAPER.

